Why is EVERYTHING so difficult?

[Anonymous]

Andy is 23 months old and quite honestly I thought that I would be “done” with this reflux rollercoaster……unfortunately it’s not the case. We are on day 7 of a really bad cold that of course turned into an ear infection (second ear infection in same ear in a month). More amoxocillin…..again. And that translates into ZERO sleep for the entire week – maybe a few hours here and there with some cough medication. He’s not eating, sleeping, and is just plain MISERABLE! I feel so bad for the little guy, really I do, but why does everything have to be so MAGNIFIED with him? My oldest had the same cold………toolk Tylenol cold……….and was a little out of it for about two days and then bounced back! It seems as if Andy has NO resistance whatsoever. If he’s within a 2 mile radius of someone who has a cough/runny nose/flu etc………..you can rest assure he will have it two days later.

Here is my question……………..are all refluxers like this? We have tried everything to relieve his symptoms and help him sleep…………from saline, humidifier, elevated bed, vicks vapo rub, cold/cough formulas……….and NOTHING helps him.

We attend a mommy and me class and the teacher (wonderful retired librarian) asked me if Andrew has allergies since he has “bluish” around his eyes? I have suspected allergies for MONTHS but how do I go about pushing for allergy testing at this age (23 months)? My pediatricians have such a wait and see attitude………………..drives me crazy.

When will this get better? All I want is for him to be comfortable (even after the cold) and for us to get some sleep!

It seems like all I’ve done for his entire life is complaned and worried.

Thanks,

Andrea

Matthew 5 years old – no reflux

Andrew 23 months old – silent reflux & mspi?

[Anonymous]

My middle child has not been tested for allergies, but she is prone to sinus infections, and she seems to catch everything and anything. Also, with her a cold is never just a cold. It goes on and on and on and she frequently ends up on antibiotics, while my oldest will get a cold and get over it without too much drama or complications.

I’ve talked to Ellie’s doctors about this many times and they say that if it continues to be a problem that they will do a cat scan of her sinuses. The last time she was sick I was at a loss and couldn’t figure out if it was an infection or allergies. Antibiotics didn’t clear it up and and she was miserable. So her doctor suggested trying Zyrtec to see if she would respond to it. Within a few days she was much, much better. She did fine for weeks and I took her off of it a week ago and sure enough another stuffy/runny nose. So, she’s back on Zyrtec again and doing better.

It might be worth a try to see if an allergy medication would help him. I don’t know if there’s any relationship between allergies and frequent colds or ear infections, but if he does hava allergies something like Zyrtec may at least take care of that part of it.

If he has MSPI his congestion could be due to dairy or hidden dairy. My oldest used to get very congested from dairy products.

I know what you mean about the complaining and worrying. It really is hard when they are so little and you just don’t know what’s wrong or what to do about it.

Good luck. I hope you find some answers for him.

[Anonymous]

The reason the doc’s are very “wait and see” on allergies is that the tests aren’t that accurate on little guys. My older son got tested at 4, but they want him to be tested again at 8 because then the results will be more reliable, also talk to the doc about claritan they have it for 2 and up I believe (not 100% sure on that though).

Christine, Austin recently had a CAT scan of his sinuses. But because his adnoids are only moderate enlarged, the doc wants to wait until next spring to see what happens (duh, he’ll get another round of sinus infections).

[Anonymous]

Colt is 18 months old and is on singulair for allergies. I think it would be something to try at his age. There are several mothers on here who’s children are on allergy medication.

[Anonymous]

ahh yep I just remembered Austin was also on singular when he was around Andrew’s age..it really helped him a lot!!!

[Anonymous]

They did the RAST (blood) test for us when Kaelyn was 16 months old. Then they did skin testing at 18 months. We discussed the fact that there can be accuracy issues with testing at such a young age, but we’ve seen such a huge improvement since removing the foods from her diet that we feel like the results must have been right. She also seems to have seasonal allergies. She takes zyrtec during allergy season and it has made a big difference.

Maybe you can convince your ped to at least run the RAST test. It’s a fairly simple blood test. I don’t have any ideas on how to convince them. I had a checkup with my allergist and discussed Kaelyn with him. He suggested that I have the ped run the blood test and the ped agreed to do it. It showed her wheat and milk allergies. We diagnosed the other allergies through the skin test.

[Anonymous]

I have noticed also that any cold can knock us out for a week whereas the neighbor child is down for a day or two. I often wonder if it is because our refluxers expend so much energy fighting against the reflux and it leaves them slightly vulnerable?

Have you ever been able to tell your ped that you don’t agree with their suggestion? If so then tell him that you don’t want to “wait and see” you’d like to be proactive instead of reactive. We also had a RAST test done at 13mos. And from that information it has truly improved life as we know it. Also Kayleigh has been on Zyrtec daily for about 15 mos now for “seasonal allergies” LOL

I know how it feels when you hit that marker where your ped told you the reflux would get better….9mos, 12 mos, 18mos etc. And everytime I thought “oh well we will hit the next one!” “This too shall pass!” Well here we are at 32 mos and I know that “magic mark” will most likely never come and I’m more at peace with it now than I ever was while waiting for those “magic” days! Hang in there!

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